Predictors of common mental disorders and psychiatric medication use among faculty members

Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2022 Oct;58(4):1810-1818. doi: 10.1111/ppc.12993. Epub 2021 Dec 8.

Abstract

Purpose: Identify the predictors of common mental disorders (CMD) and psychiatric medication use by faculty members in different teaching units of a public university.

Design and methods: A cross-sectional study on 253 faculty.

Findings: Being single, not having children, and not practicing physical activity were identified as predictors of CMD. Relative to psychiatric medication use, the predictors were the following: being homosexual, teaching classes in the biological sciences field, using medication for the urinary tract and sexual hormones, presenting mental disorder/sleep disorder diagnoses, and being positive for CMD.

Practice implications: The findings of this study may subsidize more effective interventions aimed toward protecting the health and preventing aggravation in these professionals, as well as measures for promoting changes in the university work context.

Design and methods: A cross-sectional study on 253 faculty.

Findings: Being single, not having children, and not practicing physical activity were identified as predictors of CMD. Relative to psychiatric medication use, the predictors were the following: being homosexual, teaching classes in the biological sciences field, using medication for the urinary tract and sexual hormones, presenting mental disorder/sleep disorder diagnoses, and being positive for CMD.

Practice implications: The findings of this study may subsidize more effective interventions aimed toward protecting the health and preventing aggravation in these professionals, as well as measures for promoting changes in the university work context.

Keywords: faculty; higher education; mental disorders; psychiatric medication; universities.

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Faculty
  • Hormones / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders* / diagnosis
  • Mental Disorders* / drug therapy
  • Mental Disorders* / epidemiology
  • Sleep Wake Disorders* / drug therapy
  • Sleep Wake Disorders* / epidemiology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Substances

  • Hormones